STG of the Month - May/June 2012 - DonPachi!

[DMC]

I have thought of playing this for some time now. Plays like a late Toaplan game right?
How hard is the first loop if you play for survival, compared to other cave games?
I will play some credits and find out nonetheless.

Great idea.

[Skykid]

Aw yeah, good one. I got to the last boss three flippin' times during the last shmup meet, that guy's going down.

[TrevHead (TVR)]

Looking at CaptainRansom's post in Strategy it seems that its gonna be a joint effort with everyone bouncing ideas of each other. Sweet

[hwl]

Also everyone should note that the versions have notable differences so make sure you use the Japanese one.

Are there any differences other than the bomb stock getting refilled after the end of each stage in the US version?

How hard is the first loop if you play for survival, compared to other cave games?

It requires quite some memorizing, more so than some of the newer cave stuff imo, but once figured out it is relatively easy.

[Moniker]

Also everyone should note that the versions have notable differences so make sure you use the Japanese one.

Shmupmame 3.0b only supports the US and Korean versions. Do either of those jive with the JP version?

Also, extend is supposed to be one at 2M only, correct?

[Erppo]

JP version should work with both Shmupmames just fine, you're probably just missing something.

I hear the US version has slower rank increase too but I have no hard data on this. JP version also refills bombs, but it gives only 1 after stage 1, 2 after 2 and so on, while the US version gives full refills every time. I don't know anything about the Korean version and the Hong Kong version is the most insane thing you will ever see.

[Emuser]

Which version should we play with? I took each one for a run and quite honestly I feel like the Hong Kong version should be the standard.

[Moniker]

JP version should work with both Shmupmames just fine, you're probably just missing something.

Ah, just so. It doesn't appear when filtering for shmups or lagless shmups, but you can access it under all games.

[ratikal]

Batsugun Special
Espgaluda
Crimzon Clover

[CptRansom]

Which version should we play with? I took each one for a run and quite honestly I feel like the Hong Kong version should be the standard.

This month's game is DonPachi! Please use the Japanese version of the game. Please, NO old scores!

---

Batsugun Special
Espgaluda
Crimzon Clover

You spelled DonPachi wrong.

[Emuser]

Dodonpachi Daioujou
Mushihimesama Futari
Ketsui

Aww thats lame I didn't see that line. Hong Kong is what really makes Donpachi what it is.

[CptRansom]

I'll add a Hong Kong table if there's interest. What are the differences between HK and JP versions?

[Emuser]

I'll add a Hong Kong table if there's interest. What are the differences between HK and JP versions?

Well basically the other versions of DP are neutered in comparison to the HK version. Think like a Xexex or Thunder Cross Japan vs U.S. comparison. It's pretty drastic.

[CptRansom]

Screw it, why not? I'll add the HK table for people who hate their lives.

[Eno]

Sorry if this has been brought up already, but is using autofire permitted?

And double sorry if the game actually has autofire by default

[Skykid]

Breif overview on versions folks, here's what I know:

US/International: All your bomb stocks are increased and refilled regardless at the end of a stage. The penalty for bombing is negligible, so as Smraedis demonstrated, you may as well bomb spam the shit out of all the bosses. Use em all up and don't let them go to waste, bomb, bomb, bomb! For this reason it plays quite a different game to the JP ver.

JP: You can't spam all your bombs away here, because they're only refilled based on the stage you reach (i.e 3 refills for stage 3 etc). Because you need to be more conservative with your bombs, it takes that extra bit of learning.

HK/Asia: Fuck this, you'd have to be mad. I had the roms for this and I'm convinced it's broken. I don't believe it's possible to finish, the bullets are too fast for your ship speed by the end of the game.

And double sorry if the game actually has autofire by default

Autofire by default, definitely enable.

[Giest118]

I'm with Skykid regarding the Hong Kong version; I just gave it a try. The bullet speed sort of reminds me of Mushihimesama/Futari Original. With the generally slow movement speed of the ships and the bigger hitboxes, it's not really balanced well at all; Type A is the only one really suitable for dodging a lot of the shit.

[Eno]

Autofire by default, definitely enable.

Oh, thank you. My bad, didn't realize you have to hold the service mode button for like 3 seconds to get into the menu.

[BareKnuckleRoo]

Oh, thank you. My bad, didn't realize you have to hold the service mode button for like 3 seconds to get into the menu.

Yeah, unlike a lot of other arcade games Cave requires you to hold down the service button for a while until it reaches the menu.

JP: You can't spam all your bombs away here, because they're only refilled based on the stage you reach (i.e 3 refills for stage 3 etc). Because you need to be more conservative with your bombs, it takes that extra bit of learning.

Does this apply to loops as well, as in one bomb refilled in 2-1, 2 bombs in 2-2 or once you hit 1-6, you get 6 bombs every stage after that?

Are there any differences to the 2P ships? I sorta like using the black ship if I choose Type-C, though I think I still prefer Type-B.

[Ruldra]

HK/Asia: Fuck this, you'd have to be mad. I had the roms for this and I'm convinced it's broken. I don't believe it's possible to finish, the bullets are too fast for your ship speed by the end of the game.

At one point, zlk was offering a bounty to anyone who manages to beat both loops at max rank on the HK version (with video proof). AFAIK the offer is still up.

Anyone here crazy enough to attempt this?

[zlk]

There are a few differences in the romsets:

US: The bomb stock always refills. The rank isn't nearly as bad as the jp/kor/hk versions. The medium sized ships have less hit points than the other versions. By far this is the easiest version.

JP: I think you get refilled the number of bombs as the stage you have cleared from 1 to 5. So finishing 2-4 would give you 4 bombs, finishing 1-5 would give you 5 afterwards.

KOR: The same as JP except the final attack of the 1-1 and 2-1 boss is easier. That attack is easy anyway so I have no idea why they changed it.

HK: Mid-sized enemies have more hitpoints, some bullets are way faster than any other version. They are almost impossible to dodge. Hiding spots on many bosses don't work at all. Many hiding spots and safe routes during the stages were removed.

I had a bounty for finishing the HK version but took it down. I don't really have much time at all to play anything these days so I am not interested in offering bounties at the moment.

[Blackbird]

We're going with DonPachi? Great! I love playing this game, and I even have it available on console. I'll take a crack at it.

[Skykid]

Anyone here crazy enough to attempt this?

Even without a bounty, if some expert players want to save state at the beginning of the last stage (you'll need to practice) and record a run for youtube showing how far they get, that would make for really amusing viewing. Might be the ultimate Pachi challenge of all time lol.

Had a few credits on the JP version tonight, such good fun.

"Watch yourself kid!"

[Ruldra]

Even without a bounty, if some expert players want to save state at the beginning of the last stage (you'll need to practice) and record a run for youtube showing how far they get, that would make for really amusing viewing. Might be the ultimate Pachi challenge of all time lol.

Someone call sikraiken.

[Krimzon Kitzune]

*

[Moniker]

Even without a bounty, if some expert players want to save state at the beginning of the last stage (you'll need to practice) and record a run for youtube showing how far they get, that would make for really amusing viewing. Might be the ultimate Pachi challenge of all time lol.

Someone call sikraiken.

Didn't he say during the last STGT that DonPachi was the only WR he cared about?

Would be interesting to hear his thoughts on the game.

[J_Taishu]

Played a few credits after reading this thread. I'm going to try to see if I can pull a 1-ALL out of this. It seems to be one of the easier Cave games, at least once you know when the enemies are going to start attacking you from behind.

[daliscar]

This thread's made me pull out the Playstation version of Donpachi which I'd never paid much attention to before.
Really enjoying it and it's refreshing to have a very straightforward scoring system with the lush CAVE presentation, like that original mode in Mushihimesama- not a lot to worry about, just shoot!
How does the Playstation port match up to the arcade?

[Aguraki]

so i just played donpachi after maybe a year of not playing it and I can´t remember anything,chains,bees,etc...
Is this normal or do I have serious memory problems

[BPzeBanshee]

Oh damn, JP only, because the US version wasn't hard enough....

I'll give this a shot soon and see how it goes.